US President Donald Trump has taken on former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy as his outside counsel during his impeachment inquiry. While there could potentially be a trial in the Senate, the real battle will be won and lost in the court of public opinion, a former FBI special agent told Sputnik.

Gowdy, who once chaired the House Oversight and Reform Committee that is now leading the charge toward impeaching Trump, takes on the job as subpoenas have been issued by House Democrats to a slew of Trump associates, as well as the White House itself. Pat A. Cipollone, Trump’s White House counsel, told House Democratic leaders in a Tuesday letter that the White House did not intend to cooperate with the subpoena.

Coleen Rowley, a former FBI special agent who in 2002 was named Time Magazine Person of the Year along with two other whistleblowers, told Radio Sputnik’s Loud and…